ClimateWire headlines — Tuesday, April 2, 2013 — 7:55 AM

SPOTLIGHT

A program that pays California residents for electricity made by their rooftop solar panels is under scrutiny, and supporters fear it could be weakened. The California Public Utilities Commission is examining the costs and benefits of net energy metering, a system that allows households and businesses with green power to earn credit for surplus electricity fed into the grid.

The mention of diarrhea is likely to elicit a vague squeamishness in the First World, where indoor toilets and clean water for washing are commonplace, but for thousands of children living in drought-plagued sub-Saharan Africa, the subject is one of life and death.